Current crop production, transportation and handling systems are largely based on a bulk commodity or any other fixed or mobile container for holding a crop or agricultural product approach. Harvesting machines, such as combines, are used to harvest crops and also to separate the crop (i.e. grain, beans, seeds, or the like) from the remainder of the plant material. The crop is off-loaded from the harvesting machine into a cart, truck trailer, or another transportation device and transported to a farm storage facility, local elevator, crop processor, or another destination. At the farm storage facility, the crop may be dried and stored in a bin for later use or transport from the farm. At the local elevator, the crop may be dried, cleaned, and stored, for example. The crop is later transported by any available mode of conveyance (e.g., truck, rail or barge) to a subsequent destination, such as a crop processor (e.g., a flour mill) or to a terminal elevator for further transport.
The bulk commodity system is highly efficient at moving large quantities of agricultural commodities or generally ubiquitous crops. One drawback of the bulk commodity approach is the limited ability to differentiate crops based on various crop characteristics. For the most part, crops are graded and classified according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Standard (U.S.D.A.), which may be used as a board of trade classification. For example, much corn is graded as number two yellow corn and meets the minimum characteristics established by the U.S.D.A. for that classification.
However there are crop characteristics, other than those presently used by the U.S.D.A. and board of trade classifications, that crop processors and food producers seek to utilize in food or other product production processes. Recent advances in plant science have produced crops having differentiated output traits. For example, corn may be classified as high oil corn, high starch corn, waxy corn, highly fermentable corn, white corn, nutritionally-enhanced corn, pest-resistant corn (e.g., bachillus thuringensis (BT) corn, which is resistant to corn borer), herbicide-resistant or enhanced herbicide-tolerant corn (e.g., ROUNDUP READY™ corn; ROUNDUP READY is a trademark of Monsanto Company), non-genetically modified (i.e., non-GMO) corn, and genetically modified corn (i.e., GMO corn). Similarly, soybeans may be classified as high protein soybeans, high oil soybeans, large soybeans, non-genetically modified soybeans, herbicide-resistant soybeans or enhanced herbicide-resistant corn (e.g., ROUNDUP READY™ soybeans), and genetically modified soybeans.
Other crops have been developed for certain pharmaceutical or nutriceutical properties. For example, certain crops are genetically modified through biotechnology to provide therapeutic properties or medicinal compounds. While these genetically modified (GMO) crops provide benefits to producers and/or consumers, some consumers prefer to avoid food products made from genetically modified crop ingredients. In response, certain regulators (e.g., European regulators) have adopted, or are considering, regulations that require food products to be labeled to indicate the presence and/or absence of GMO ingredients. The demand to certify crops as being not genetically modified or “non-GMO” has primarily been met by manual documentation processes.
Other consumers desire food products that are produced organically. Organic crops are generally grown without exposure to certain herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides, plant hormones, or other chemicals that might otherwise be used in conventional farming techniques. Organic food production largely avoids the bulk commodity system due to small volumes and the inability to properly segregate organically produced products from non-organically produced products. Many organic crops are produced under contract and delivered from the farm directly to the processor. These crops do not travel through the bulk commodity system. With respect to organic foods, it is necessary to maintain extensive documentation to certify the crop as organically produced. Such documentation is largely gathered through time intensive manual processes.
It is necessary to gather and maintain information about differentiated crop traits to realize added value from these traits. To facilitate the large-scale production, transportation, and use of crops with differentiated characteristics, a method and system is needed to automatically gather crop data and to make the information accessible to downstream users.